33
Please
S till wearing our bipedal forms, our blood thick with our wolves, Jay, Saint, and I run through the gorge. Even hours later, I still need to feel the wind through my fur, feel the forest beneath my paws. The wild freedom of this form is unmatched, as is the added strength and agility. Even like this, Jay and Saint look like themselves, like their wolf. They've chased me through the forest and up the mountain all night, and I can't wait for the next time the two halves of my soul are bound together. Wolf and woman. A monster in the shape of a woman.
Once again, the three of us stand at the edge of the rocky cliff overhang that overlooks the entire Hollow. A distant haze covers the stars but not the Moon. She is still too bright to be diminished, filling the black sky with her light. My breath leaves my muzzle in great big plumes of fog, joining with the boys on either side of me.
In the distance, the river still rushes and roars with unbridled power. It rarely freezes, the gush of water through the waterfall too wild to be tamed by ice.
It is here, standing at the top of the rocks, that I smell him again.
Ethan White is in the Hollow again.
The little cockroach is here , skulking through the underbrush. My hackles raise, and a low growl erupts from my throat. Jay and Saint echo the sound, and the striking blue eyes of our Alpha scan the forest below.
Then, as if struck by lightning, Jay, Saint, and I burst into motion all at once, tearing through the snow and underbrush after our prey.
Chasing Ethan’s scent, we hunt him. We saw the Whites leave on surveillance after the last Full Moon when he'd lost his hand. Beyond that, though, I know the rest of his family is not here by the smell. Ethan reeks of pain and fear, but not like his brothers or his father.
I never want to think about him again, yet he is here in my home.
The quiet rage that has burned in my gut throughout my time with him unfurls. Burns into something more deadly. I have had enough of living under his dark shroud of hatred. I’ve done enough wondering whether he will show up in the Hollow again with a gun.
I’ve had enough.
As easily as I smelled his rotten stench on the overhang, we find Ethan. Dressed head to toe in black with a large pistol in hand, Ethan walks through the middle of the frozen gorge. The idiot still wears a sling for his arm, the stump of his wrist bandaged tightly. From where we stalk through the underbrush, Ethan cannot see us.
Even without talking to him, I know he has not come here to just talk to me. Ethan White has entered my home again with the intent to harm me and mine.
He will not be leaving the Hollow alive this time. I will make sure of it.
A motion to the boys sets us into motion. Surprisingly, they do not object to my instructions. Instead, they silently follow my command. Saint slinks off to the right, creeping through the snow to flank Ethan. The muscles along Saint's back flex with the movements as he scales the rocky hillside up the gorge. Jay does the same to my left, scrambling up the rock like it was nothing.
While my boys set the trap for Ethan, I happily shift back into my human skin, happy to play my part. I'm just the bait, the piece of cheese to nibble on before your neck is snapped .
If it’s me Ethan wants so bad, I’ll let him feast upon my flesh like the glutton he is before he dies.
Staggering through the snow, I play my part well. Tears come easily because I finally let myself think about what I’d let him do to me for so long, to mourn what I gave up because I thought that was what love was. Sacrifice and pain were the definition of love when I was with Ethan. I thought about what I’d put up with under the guise of not being lonely. I had let him put all those scars on my soul. But I will be fine; I know this in my bones. He will never hurt me again, I’ll make sure of it.
“Ethan?” I sob, pretending to shudder from the bitter cold. Then, with a dramatic yelp, I drop to my knees– as if I’d tripped– glad for the snow's depth because it affords me some coverage. My wolf is still too close to the surface of my soul for the cold to bother me, though.
It’s all an act.
Ethan doesn’t say anything for a few moments, but he does come a few steps closer. His unsteady footsteps crunch in the deep snow. The stream below is frozen, but only just. The thin ice snaps and pops below the snow. The river rushing over the rocks covers any sounds my boys make on the gorge above.
Still, I keep my act up, drawing Ethan in and capturing his focus. My heart beats steady in my chest, my wolf’s claws just under my skin… If I pressed the tips of my fingers, I bet I’d feel our claws' sharp edges.
“What are you doing out here?” Ethan finally asks, only a few steps away now. I clamp my eyes shut with a sob, if only so that he doesn’t see when I roll them at his stupidity.
I’m a fucking wolf, dipshit. That’s what I’m doing out here.
“Artemis?” Ethan says again, stepping closer. There is a thread of confidence in his voice now, likely because he can see nearly all of me. Disgust unfurls in my gut, but I keep up the pretense that I am hurt or something .
When I lift my eyes to Ethan, gazing past him to either side of the gorge, and see my boys poised to strike, I say one single word.
“ Please .”
Jay and Saint move in tandem, launching off the sides of the gorge, claws and teeth glinting in the moonlight.
Like the fearsome monsters they are, Jay and Saint’s bipedal forms have the benefit of more strength and longer claws. Together, they eviscerate Ethan where he stands.
It's over quickly. Ethan doesn’t even have the opportunity to move, to draw the gun or knife at his side.
Ethan White dies with a whimper in his throat, the last sound he’ll ever make.
I should feel remorse, empathy– something other than relief, I know. But I don’t think I’ll ever be able to feel anything but relieved that he is no longer walking the Earth.
His death is over quickly, which, according to all the books I've read, is an honor Ethan White did not deserve.
Still, I feel nothing but appreciation for Jay and Saint as I step over Ethan's body to pull them into a hug. My boys return the embrace, folding my small human body into the forms, careful not to scratch my skin with their claws.
"Thank you," I murmur into their chests.
"We'd do it again if we had to, Gorgeous." Jay rumbles, nuzzling the side of my head before stepping away.
Saint nods in agreement, and I give them both a soft smile before shifting back into my bipedal form.
Cleaning up what remains of Ethan isn't too hard. He's mostly in one piece. The blood can't be helped, but the snow will melt eventually, and he will dissipate into the ground.
We dump Ethan's remains in the roaring river. With any luck, the actual wild predators of the wood will take care of the rest.